I finished Ready Player One well over a week ago. I raved about it, said it was the best book I’ve ever read, and then I’ve proceeded to read nothing at all since then.
This is a problem that I’ve had for years. The more I like a book, the less likely I am to be able to move on to another book directly after. Sometimes it will be weeks before I can actually enjoy something new. And it’s not like this is because I’m comparing the new with the thing I just read. It’s more that my expectations are set too high. If I like this book so much, surely all other books should be just as good, right?
And then my disappointment arrives, and my attention is lost.
Since I finished RPO, I’ve tried at least six different books. Not a single one has captured my attention. I’ve tried some new stuff, I’ve tried to reread a couple of different books that I’ve enjoyed in the past, and I’ve tried to go non-fiction. Nothing is good. I just can’t focus on any of it. I’ve read maybe 30 pages all week.
The Hangover
I don’t know whether anyone else experiences this or not. Perhaps I’m just special this way. But it is really difficult to move on from a good book. I experience the same thing with movies. If I really like a movie, I’ll rewatch it over and over again. I think I watched the first National Treasure movie like six times in a row the first weekend I saw it. (I really should go rewatch that, it’s been a too long)
Books are the same way, though I don’t usually go back immediately to reread the book, I do tend to get obsessed thinking about how good it was and how horrible everything else is bound to be.
I call this the book hangover. And unlike a real hangover, there are no miracle cures that I can try to rid myself of the problem.
Sometimes, going back to an old favorite can help. Usually, this is a book that I’ve read over and over again, something like The Rainmaker or Harry Potter. A lot of the time, it’s fanfiction that saves my reading. I can go reread a favorite fic or find something new, and I’ll be good to go. A palate cleanser of sorts.
This time, none of that has worked. Yes, I’m reading some fanfic, but it’s not really holding my interest. I just kind of feel lost and full of complete disinterest in everything at the moment.
I’ve done this before, so I’m not worried. Somewhere along the line, I’ll find something to get my head back into reading. Probably within the next few days. It’ll either be fluffy and non-serious or downright epic. There will be no in between. And it most likely won’t be a popular book that everyone else has read. I tend, when this sort of thing happens, to gravitate toward the unread corner of my library, the place no one else dares to tread. This is how I got into HaremLit and anime. It’s how I got interested in space operas, too. There’s a lot of stuff out there in those genres that isn’t popular, and that draws me in. Sometimes.
We’ll see where I go this time. The hangover will come to an end, but it will leave behind its mark. I’ll likely stay away from the books I know will be bangers for a while, lest I find another book that could cause the hangover to endure. That would be a travesty.
